Digimon: Dark Life Legacy
by Wolfbanekapu
Summary: There is a great war about to begin or rather... repeat. An ancient evil rises again and our heroes of today may not be able to stop it. Now it's time for the Legacy Children to return to help; only problem is some of them may not be so willingly to fight for the side of good. Sometimes help isn't so good especially if it's tainted.
1. Chapter 1

**Arc I: Shadow Over His Face**

_**Daisuke was always different from other kids. For one reason, he was a Chosen Child, a Digidestined. He was blessed with a special destiny, but also a cursed one. After a mysterious digimon appears before him and his allies, things begin to change for Daisuke and his digimon partner. **_

_**He can feel something creeping up over his shoulder. Something dark, something evil, and it wants to corrupt him. He can feel the darkness seeping into his heart, and he won't be able to fight it. Eventually the only fight he'll be able to put up will be against his friends.**_

/

**I**

**And So It Begins, Daisuke Becomes A Target!**

"**My young master." The equine-like creature spoke as **it watched the Motomiya residence closely. Its glowing red eyes flickered like embers in the dark. The creature pawed the ground before spreading out its wings and taking to the sky.

The creature's eyes drifted back down to the house where the boy stayed, slumbering. It let out a snort and glided away. This wasn't the right time yet, it was too soon. However, the equine creature knew that it shouldn't wait too long for this. Not when the Dark Life was looming so close.

"I give you ten days before I come for you again, old friend. So spend them well." The creature spoke as it disappeared into the dark.

Little Chibimon sat on the window sill with his head tilted as he watched the strange creature fly away. Something had woke him up, and when he peered out the window, he caught sight of the creature staring right at him. It stood there for an awfully long time before leaving.

Chibimon had wanted to wake Daisuke up and warn him about it, but something held him in place. Something made Chibimon suddenly become paralyzed as he stared at the creature outside. The young digimon felt as if he couldn't breathe, his entire body trembled. It was as if he were inside a block of ice. His ability to move had only returned when the creature left.

Confused and scared, the little digimon scrambled back to his partner's bed. His commotion startled Daisuke awake as he tried to snuggle up against his face. "Ah, Chibimon, what are you doing?" the boy exclaimed sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

The boy stifled a yawn and leered down at his partner. "Where's the fire?" he asked.

Chibimon peeked up from under the covers. "I saw something freaky outside. It was glaring at me!" the little digimon was trembling. Whatever power the creature had held over him frightened him greatly. He never experienced anything like it before!

Daisuke frowned and got out of bed to look out the window. He shook his head, not seeing what spooked Chibimon. "There's nothing out there now. What did it look like, was it a digimon?"

Daisuke truly doubted that it could have been a digimon. It had been three full years since anything to do with the Digital World had happened. Life had been painfully dull around here. Deep inside, the teen did somewhat hope that it might have been a digimon. However he was just too tired right now to get excited.

His mind was still too clouded by exhaustion for him to show real concern. Staying up to watch that Nightmare on Elm Street marathon was not a good idea; especially for someone who had school and a soccer match tomorrow.

Chibimon sat up and tilted his head. "Well it left before you woke up and I wasn't sure what it was. It just gave off this really creepy vibe and couldn't move at all." His friend replied.

Daisuke looked at his partner and smiled. He didn't doubt that the little digimon had seen anything. "We're safe." He reassured the little guy as he picked him up and walked back over to his bed. "I don't think there's anything to worry about." Daisuke yawned, feeling exhausted still.

"Really?" Chibimon asked as Daisuke pulled the covers over them.

The boy nodded, drifting off into sleep. He was too tired to be worried about anything. In fact, the boy wasn't paying too much attention to his partner. The boy had a full day and tomorrow was going to be even busier. Daisuke wanted to get every second of sleep he could get. Within mere moments, the boy was fast asleep once more.

Chibimon sighed and looked back at the window. The little digimon gave a shudder as he recalled the cold presence the figure had. _Was it a digimon? _He wondered. Whatever the creature was there was no need to worry about it anyway. It was gone now and hopefully it wouldn't return.

The little digimon closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep like his partner. Both of them completely unaware of the grave danger they had simply ignored. If either of them showed any concern for the appearance of the strange being then maybe they could have changed the way of how things are about to become. Maybe they could have prevented the chaos that was going to happen tomorrow.

Neither child nor digimon knew it, but things were never going to be the same for them or their friends. It would all start the moment Daisuke Motomiya would open his eyes in the morning…

….

Hikari stirred her cereal around in her bowl. She took up a spoonful, studied it for a moment, and then ate the cereal piled up on it. An unsatisfied expression worked its way across her face. The cereal tasted stale!

The girl pushed her bowl aside. "Mom needs to go grocery shopping." She sighed.

Getting up, she carried her bowl over to the sink and dumped it. Maybe she could grab a snack out the vending machines once she got to school. "Come on, Tailmon!" she shouted upstairs. Hikari glanced at the cloak; she had gotten a late start this morning and now she was in a hurry to get to school.

"Tailmon I'm leaving!" she shouted again, but got no response. Sighing, Hikari grabbed her bag and headed out the door. The girl did have time to be waiting for the feline. _She was probably still asleep. _Hikari thought as she began walking on her route to school.

In the bedroom window, watching the girl depart was none other than Tailmon. Her ears were low as she watched her friend leave. She longed to go after her, but she couldn't, at least not right now. Not when she had a "guest" present.

Her "guest" was leaning against the wall with his head. He wore a dark blue hood that helped obscure his features. Tailmon shuddered at the cold aura that was floating off his body. It was overpowering, it made her feel as if there were a thousand needles poking her skin. The feline digimon just couldn't stand being around him, she wanted to escape.

No human—if that's what he was—should ever have an atmosphere like that. It wasn't normal; then again Tailmon knew for a fact that this boy wasn't normal either.

"She's gone." Tailmon informed him. "Now what is it you wanted Ya—err I mean…" she let her sentence trail off. The boy was now staring at her intently; his electric blue eyes were cutting.

"Remember when I told you about my allies?" the stranger asked her.

Tailmon nodded. She remembered their conversation quite clearly. "Yes and the warning you gave me about the two of them that were coming."

The stranger moved silently to the window to watch out of it. His impossibly blue eyes were searching the sky for something. Tailmon's ears twitched as he moved; it was creepy, he made no sound at all when he walked. "I want you to tell the other digimon to be on guard. Tell them to stay close to their partners." He said, then looked at the little cat digimon. His face had turned stony. "You will not tell them of me and they are not to tell their humans anything."

Once more, Tailmon gave a nod. It was always the same thing during their meetings. She was to tell no one of this stranger, not even if they tried beating it out of her. "I know." She told him. _He seems a little more tense than usual. _Tailmon thought as she studied the boy.

The stranger was still studying the scenery outside the window. "One of them is beginning to stir." He whispered before stepping away from the window. He rubbed his eyes, the light obviously was giving him a headache. "I fear it may be my fault."

Tailmon winced at the remorse she heard in his voice. Every time they met, he seemed to have something to mourn about. "Hey." She said, walking over and putting a paw on his leg. He looked down at her in surprise and she smiled. "Self-blame isn't going to help us get through this."

Her guest smiled back, but it was a sad one. "The Dark Life…it was our curse. It was who we were; as long as we breathed the curse would always be there and always get worse. Our curse was broken when we're sent to Sleep." The boy spoke. "Now that I've Awaken, I fear that I've awoken the curse as well. The Dark Life will happen again…it was never meant to happen twice."

"We'll stop it. My friends and I are strong!" Tailmon told him with a fire shining in her eyes.

The boy chuckled. "But are you strong enough to stop _her_?"

Tailmon glared intently at him. "Yes!" she didn't care what he said about this "all-power" digimon, Tailmon knew that they'd be able to stop her! They'd put an end to this Dark Life that he said was coming.

"Wrong!" the boy growled as he shoved the cat away from him. "You all are not even remotely close to being ready for her!"

Tailmon shook her head, trying to clear it as she got up off the floor. She gave the boy a death glare, warning him not to push her again. The only reason she was tolerating him now was because he may the only help they had. Even so, she won't hesitate to scratch his pretty face up.

"I don't see the problem. You guys stopped her before." The expression the appeared on the boy's face made her shudder. "Right?"

"At a terrible cost…"

"Oh…" Tailmon lowered her ears.

"I don't any of you making similar sacrifices." The boy kneeled down and patted her on the head. His eyes were sad as he remember what he and his friends went through to protect both worlds. Oh how he missed all of them so much…even Akira and Ichiro. _Or rather Dagger and Shadow. _The boy grimaced as the thought slivered through his head.

"Tailmon, my friends and I suffered. I had to kill two of them…" he went on telling her. Her guest gave a shudder when he said those words. _I can still feel his blood warm on my hands. I can still see that look of hatred as he died… _He thought as he squeezed his eyes shut trying to will the image away. "And it was all to save our worlds. Even after we defeated her, we still lost."

He stood back up and wandered over to the window. Once more his sights were set to the sky. "You aren't strong enough yet and I don't want history repeating itself. I just want you to be careful for now."

"You keep saying that we aren't strong enough." Tailmon said walking over so that she was standing beside him. "When will we be strong enough?"

Her guest smiled and gave a short laugh. "You'll start getting stronger today." He told her. "I'm sorry to say that today is when Hell breaks loose. Today is the beginning of the Dark Life."

Tailmon tensed up. The Dark Life is what's he's been warning about ever since they've met. The way he's described it always sent a chill up the cat digimon's spine. Now she said that her and the others would be able to handle it but what would happen then? Would they really be able to hold their own or like this boy and his friends, will they all fall?

Then there was that part about history repeating itself. Tailmon knew that the Digidestined were nothing like her guest and his team but she feared what might happen to them. Would someone have to die again to end the Dark Life? Would they all be sent to Sleep like this boy and his friends were to prevent the Dark Life from happening again? Tailmon didn't like the questions that were swimming around in her head.

A grunt from her guest brought her attention him. She stared in worry at him as she watched him clutch at his chest. His face had paled greatly; he looked ready to pass out. The boy staggered away from the window and collapsed against the wall. Letting out a gasp, the boy slinked to the floor, his body was shivering.

"Are you alright?" Tailmon asked, rushing to his side.

The boy waved her away. "I'm fine…it's just _he's _fighting back. I can't stay in this body for much longer." As he was speaking, the color was slowing coming back to his face. Steadily, he got back up to his feet, wobbling a little.

Tailmon watched him closely, ready to provide assistance if needed.

"The closer it gets to Dark Life, the longer I'll be able to stay." He informed the feline digimon. "I'll be able to assist you more, then." He said as if his episode didn't happen.

He walked to the door to leave. "How can you be so calm about this?" Tailmon asked.

The boy smiled and laughed. "Maybe some part of me knows what might happen already. Perhaps I just think that this war will only end in death everywhere." He disappeared at the door, quickly and silently.

Tailmon frowned. She dashed out of the room hoping to catch her visitor before he was gone. "You know something don't you? There's something that you aren't telling me!" she shouted at the boy's back.

The boy looked back at her; a smile was stuck to his face. However there was a sad light in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He whispered before turning his back on her.

"Haku! Don't turn your back on me, give me an answer!" she hissed. Her fur was standing on in. The cat digimon did not like the idea of him hiding something important from her. He was supposed to be helping her after all.

Tailmon was in for a pleasant surprise when the boy turned to face her. He moved quickly, impossibly quick. His speed was unlike that of any regular human's. Next thing she knew, Tailmon was pinned up against the wall, and the boy's hand was wrapped tightly around her neck. His eyes were burning with azure flames.

The boy squeezed her wind pipes even more. Tailmon let out a weak cry, trying to break free. "Names," the boy growled in her face, "have power, little digimon. Do not speak it again. Do you want the end of the world upon us right now?" he suddenly released his grip and Tailmon fell like a sack of potatoes to the floor.

Snorting, the boy walked away, leaving her panting for breath. He paused a short ways away. "Dagger is waking up. The others will follow after him. Be careful." With his warning delivered, the boy walked off. Seconds later, he was long gone.

….

"Ugh."

Daisuke had his head pressed up against his locker. It was throbbing as if he'd been hit in the head with a hammer fifty thousand times. He could barely even see straight. _Why the hell did I even come to school?_

He stumbled down the hall and slipped into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. This morning when he woke up, he had felt fine, but the moment he got to school he felt awful. The young Digidestined had felt sick to his stomach; several times he felt as if he were going to throw up.

The cool water helped wash the sickly feeling away but it still didn't cure his throbbing head. He had to squint against the light; it was like staring into the sun. Maybe he was having a migraine, he use to have them when he was younger. The boy squeezed his eyes shut in a feeble attempt to cure his headache.

That didn't work; it felt like the world was swirling around him. He slumped down against the wall. "Please…" he muttered while massaging his temples. "Not today, I have a freaking game today." His teammates were depending on him to be there.

_Brriiiiing!_

Daisuke's eyes fluttered opened at the sound of the bell ringing. He pushed himself to his feet, went to splash more water on his face and proceeded to class. Hopefully he'd manage to shake this ill feeling off before the day was over. There was no way he was going to miss the game; especially since it was the game that determined if they made it to state.

Daisuke slumped down into his desk just as the tardy bell rang. _Thank goodness. _He managed to make it to class without dropping his cookies in the hall. In fact he was actually starting to feel a bit better already.

After the teacher finished scolding a few stragglers and handing out detention for tardiness, she walked to the front of the class. Mrs. Mori was the math teacher and was not well liked by her students. She was a wicked woman; some people said that she was probably a witch. The woman was viciously strict and had no patience for class clowns.

Daisuke had no quarrels with Mrs. Mori. The only thing that he despised about her class was that it was his first class in the morning. Ugh, only the insane would actually enjoy math in the morning! Then he already wasn't feeling too well already, he didn't need another headache while working Algebra problems.

"Alright, class." Mrs. Mori said, her voice rang out across the room causing several students who were dozing to jump. A little bit of satisfaction twinkled in her eyes. "Pull out your text books and turn to page 107 for your new lesson. Then I want you to take out your notebooks and write down vocabulary."

"Both words and definitions." She said as she strolled past one of the desks. She eyed the girl sitting in the desk, letting her know that she was talking directly to her. "If there's an example, I expect you to write it down as well. Trust me, you'll be thanking me later." The woman said as she wandered over to her own desk.

"Once you are done and if time allows, we will take notes. Remember students, one of my rules are that we work bell to bell. No exceptions." That was the last of her instructions.

Sighing, Daisuke got out his text book and notebook. Today is going to a long day.

The classroom was silent except for pencil scratching and the occasional yawn. Daisuke was silently doing his work when he heard his digivice go off. The shrill beeping was enough to make him nearly jump out of his seat. All eyes suddenly turned on him.

"Uh…" Daisuke could feel his face growing hot. A shadow blocked out the light and he looked up, suddenly feeling like a small pathetic bug. Mrs. Mori was glowering at him, hovering above his desk like a gargoyle.

She held her hand out; her long polish red nails were like talons. Daisuke was almost afraid to move for fear of being sliced into shreds. "Hand it over, Motomiya." Her tone was icy with impatience. He could hear her high heel rapping against the floor. "I won't ask you again, Motomiya. Hand your phone over right now or I'll have to send you to the office."

_Her phone…she just wants your phone. _That plane would have work if not for one problem. His digivice wouldn't stop beeping! Maybe it would be better if he let himself get sent to the office. It would allow him to sneak away to see what the heck it was that made it go off.

Swallowing the lump in his throat. There were a couple gasps and nervous whispers the hovered around the classroom. Mrs. Mori glared down at the boy as if she were about to bite his head off. Her face was red with anger. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not giving it up." Daisuke said.

"Then you can find your way to the offi—" the woman was barely able to finish her sentence when Daisuke ran out of the room. She and the rest of the class stared after him, puzzled.

As Daisuke ran down the hall he pulled his digivice out. He frowned. "That can't be right." He whispered to himself. It showed a reading that was coming from right outside the school. The boy slowed to a stop and glanced out one of the windows, searching for the culprit. Aside from a few scattered clouds and patches of blue sky, there was nothing to see. Or at least nothing that would cause alarm.

"Daisuke-kun!"

"Takeru." Daisuke greeted his friend as he and Hikari ran up on him. Both of them were dressed in shorts and shirts, obviously coming from gym class. Daisuke struggled not to flush at the sight of Hikari in shorts. Over the years as she matured, she had begun to look well…well a lot more mature.

"I don't understand." Hikari said, shaking her head. "It's been three years since there'd been any activity in the Digital World and this happens."

Takeru nodded. "This reading can't be right."

"Well," Daisuke said with a grin, "looks like there's only one way to find out." He took off running down the hall again, ignoring when Takeru called after him. "What are you, chicken?" he called back. It couldn't be helped, he was too excited. _Finally some action! It's been too long since we battled a digimon! _

The blood in his veins was pumping, he felt so excited that he had forgotten about how crappy he had felt. _Maybe that was a digimon Chibimon saw last night. _Daisuke thought as he skidded to a stop near the stairs. He looked back behind him to wait for Hikari and Takeru to catch up. He may be rash sometimes, but he knew how to use his head. There was no way he and Chibimon could handle a digimon alone.

Impatience was pulsing through him though. Waiting felt so painful, he couldn't even keep still. Something was pulling him forward; he could feel the lure of this battle. It was addictive; he wanted to keep on running until he found out what it was he was being pulled to.

"Daisuke, slow down." Takeru scolded him when he and Hikari finally caught up with him. He took a hold of the other teen's arm before he could take off again. Daisuke looked as excited as a skittish horse and he looked ready to bolt. "We need to wait for Miyako and Iori."

The goggled teen yanked away. "There's no time!" he said through gritted teeth. His head was now beginning to throb again; the light shining through the windows wasn't helping. Neither was Takeru's nagging.

Takeru sighed. "Daisuke, I know you must be excited about this, trust me I am to, but we don't know what's waiting for us out there. It'd be best if we were all there to back each other up."

"But…" Daisuke let it his sentence trail off as something in the nearby window caught his eye. Something sped by; so quickly that the glass rattled. Was it a bird?

Both Hikari and Takeru seemed to see it as well. Hikari pressed nervously up against Takeru. "What was that?" Just as she spoke something flew by once more. The three teens all stepped away nervously. It was no bird, no bird was that huge.

Feathers floated down from the air; they were as black as obsidian. It was perhaps about a foot long and exotic looking. You could tell that it came from no birds that lived around this area. One feather drifted down and pressed itself against the glass. Looking more closely at it, you could see that it was actually made up of more than one color.

Purples, dark blues, and silver were swirled together creating the dark color. As the feather lighted against the glass, it caused a crack. Then it began to glow light violet. "Get down!" it was the only warning the three teens got before the peculiar feather suddenly exploded!

Glass shattered, sending deadly shard out everywhere. The blast had been powerful enough to knock the trio off their feet. Takeru and Hikari were knocked into the wall while the explosion knocked Daisuke down the steps.

Through the gaping hole in the window, something flew through. It landed at the top of the steps and looked down at the teen lying motionlessly at the bottom. Standing there was a dark horse; two feathered wings branched out from its shoulders. Menacing spikes circled around its ankles and peering out from under a facial armor were two glowing red eyes. A long silver horn protruded from its forehead.

The equine creature snorted. "It starts today, young one." He said in a gravelly voice.

Takeru winced as he lifted himself up. He stared in wonder at the stranger digimon that had just appeared. "Hikari." He looked down at his friend. At the last minute he had thrown his arms around her and shielded her from the blast. His body ached from the cuts caused by the glass. "Hikari…a-are you okay?"

Hikari groaned and her eyes fluttered opened. "My head." She said as she put a hand to her temple. A gasp escaped her lips as she winced at the pain. "W-wait…where's Daisuke?" The girl's eyes widened in concern.

Takeru looked back toward the digimon. The boy pushed himself to his feet and used the wall to support himself. "Hey." He called. However the horse digimon paid him no attention. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" he shouted.

"Takeru, don't." Hikari warned her friend as she managed to get back to her feet as well.

The digimon glanced back at him and snorted. With a powerful flick of his wing, he sent a gust of wind towards the boy and knocked him back into the wall.

"Takeru!" Miyako came rushing over. Luckily for her she had been a safe distance away from the window to avoid severe injury. There were only a few cuts on her face from flying debris. Unluckily for him, Hikari, and Daisuke they had received her warning too late.

She helped him back up to his feet. "Are you alright?" she asked.

The blond nodded. His attention was more on the digimon than on her though. "Who are you and what do you want here?" he demanded.

"You wouldn't understand…" the digimon told him, icily. "Now leave me, I have business to attend to."

"Try me."

The horse digimon turned to face the boy. His eyes were glowing with rage. Takeru suddenly felt that this was starting to be a bad idea as Miyako hid behind him nervously. He's never felt such an icy aura before; he felt as if his entire body had become paralyzed.

The digimon studied him closely. After awhile he chuckled. "A boy like you wants to demand things of me?" the digimon laughed again. "Do not think too highly of yourself, child! You are not even strong enough to challenge me yet." His voice was harsh, like the sound of a whip cracking through the air.

The sounds of voices and doors opening alerted the group to the other students in the school. No doubt the sound of the explosion had caused them to want to investigate. Pawing the ground nervously, the equine digimon spread out his wings, ready to escape. He slashed at the air with his horn and a gate opened before him.

"We will meet again, child." The digimon said before he made his exit. As he passed through the gate, a wave of blasted outward. There was a loud humming; it was the sound of the power shutting down right before the hallway was plunged into darkness.

"What's going? What happened to all the lights?! Oh my gosh!" the voices of several panicked students echoed down the hall.

"Crap…" Miyako muttered. "This is great, just great."

Takeru stood there, staring at the place where the digimon had stood. He could feel his entire body trembling. _Who was that guy? What the hell was he talking about? _His nails were digging into his palms from his hands being curled into fists. The young, blonde Digidestined could feel his heart slamming inside of his chest.

Being in the presence of that digimon left him with his blood boiling. It left him feeling both pumped with rage and fear. He wasn't like any of the other digimon they had faced off with. Actually, he seemed stronger, as if he were on a whole new level!

"Takeru!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt someone touch his arm. The boy had been so imprisoned by his thoughts that he had nearly forgotten where he was. Blinking, he looked over his shoulder at Hikari. "We need to get Daisuke and get out of here. I know for a fact that my brother and the others will want to hear about this!" she practically had to shout over the din.

Nodding numbly, Takeru managed to pull himself out of his haze. "Right." He mumbled as he rushed down the steps to check on their fallen friend. The boy grimaced as he checked the other's condition.

Daisuke was out cold; obviously he had hit his head on something. Bloody cuts freckled his pale skin; there was an ugly purple bruise swelling up on the side of his head. He looked like he had taken the worst of the blast. A moan from the unconscious teen let his friend at least know that he was beginning to wake up so he wasn't too worried.

Grabbing his arm, he slung it over his shoulder and lifted him up. Taking all Daisuke's weight, Takeru began making way towards the nearest exit with Hikari and Miyako following closely. In all the chaos, no one noticed the three teenagers and their unconscious companion slip away.

Well…they didn't slip away completely unnoticed. Hiding in the shadows was a hooded figure. His electric blue eyes were narrowed as he watched the group hurry away from the chaotic school building. He especially found the blonde and the brunette boys quite interesting to watch. A small smile played across his lips.

"Getting a little impatient aren't we, ShadowPegasusmon?" he chuckled. "In your hast you may end up causing something you don't want to happen." _It's inevitable though. To Awaken one, you must Awaken us all. The Dark Life is our curse that we share._

The stranger sighed unhappily as he watched the children retreat. He wanted to have faith in these new Digidestined but he just wasn't sure. Would they really be strong enough to handle the coming threat? Would they even be prepared for the great lose they were about to have very soon? These children were in no way ready for any of this!

Why was he trusting them with this then? This battle could very well end their lives.

"Don't disappoint me…" the boy whispered before disappearing back into the shadows. He needed to rest; residing in this body was tiring; especially since _he _kept fighting him. It was an unfair burden; he had been Awakened but he had no true control over the body he was in.

He looked down his hands…hands that were his but not his. It wouldn't matter soon enough; eventually he'd have perfect control over this vessel. However he hoped he wouldn't be needed when that happened. He hoped…he prayed that these children would be able to stop both the worlds from ending.

_Time for me to rest, boy. I leave you for now…_

….

"Takeru, Hikari, Miyako!" Taichi Yagami exclaimed as he and Yamato rushed towards the small group. Both wore expressions tight with worry over their younger siblings. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Taichi, I'm glad you're okay. I was wondering if you managed to make it out." Hikari greeted her brother.

A few minutes after their escape, Hikari had sent a message out to the older Digidestined. She had explained the whole thing; that the explosion and the blackout were caused by the digimon that had appeared. They had fled to the park, using it as a place to regroup with their teammates.

"Where are the others?" Miyako asked, looking passed him and Yamato curiously.

"They should get here soon. They probably got caught up in all the chaos." Yamato replied while absently rubbing the back of his head. "The school's in a lockdown, they've gotten the police down there and everything. They're saying there was an attempt to blow the school up."

Miyako snorted. "Well, they weren't very far off."

"So is everyone alright?" Taichi asked, taking notice of the small, healing cuts that covered his sister's arms.

Hikari nodded, rubbing over her marked skin with her hands. "We're all okay…Daisuke got knocked out though. But he woke up a couple of minutes ago. Miyako and I were about to take him to the hospital, but he's kind of being stubborn about it." She smiled weakly. The girl didn't like the protest her friend was putting up but she was relieved that the explosion didn't leave him too injured. At least he was okay enough to still be thick-headed.

Daisuke whom was lying down in the grass not too far away sat up all of a sudden. He leered over at the pair. "I told you I was fine!" he growled.

Takeru, whom was sitting nearby, shoved him back down. "Stop moving so much. You're going to make yourself pass out." He scolded his friend mildly.

"I'm just saying that I'm fine and I don't need a damn hospital." The brunette goggle boy replied.

Takeru rolled his eyes. It felt as if he were babysitting a toddler. "We'll see if you keep saying that when you see that crack in your head. I'm pretty sure once you do, you'll want it to get checked out." He wanted to add something smart to the end of that but thought better of it. Maybe later if the situation allows.

"And it doesn't matter what you think." Miyako said as she wandered over. "You're in worse shape than enough of us so you're going to the doctor." Her hands were on her hips, showing that she demanded compliance.

"Did you just call me fat?" Daisuke asked with a goofy grin.

"How hard did he hit his head?" Miyako asked as she heaved a sigh.

Taichi and Yamato shared an amused look. "Well, we're glad you're all okay for the most part." The blonde said. Suddenly, his expression changed. "Where are the digimon? I thought they'd be with you."

"Are they still at the school?" Taichi asked, becoming worried.

Miyako shook her head. "Actually, Hawkmon stayed at home. Tailmon came up to us and told him there was something she wanted to tell him and the others."

Both Takeru and Daisuke both confirmed this as well with their own digimon.

Hikari frowned. "That's odd…"

Miyako tilted her head. "How so?"

"Hm? Oh never mind." The other girl replied with a short, somewhat nervous laugh. "I was just talking to myself." _Tailmon's been disappearing a lot lately. I wonder what's she's been up to. _

"Hikari?" Taichi arched his brow at his sister. He knew her well enough to know that there was something bothering her.

She smiled. "No, it was nothing. I was just voicing a few of my thoughts aloud by accident."

"Well, I'm getting kind of worried about Daisuke over there. You guys can wait here for the others while I go take him to get checked out." Yamato said, grimacing at the sight of the teen laid out on the ground. His arm was draped across his face, making it difficult to tell if he were conscious or not and that bother the older teen. "You can fill me in on whatever you've gone over."

Daisuke lifted his arm. "I said I'm fine…" he muttered.

Yamato smirked and went over to help him up. He studied the boy's face, getting a good look at his condition. "And everything you say between now and then is a lie. At least to me." The blonde replied as he took a hold of the others arm. "Now come on, before you pass out on us."

"So if I told you that you were a very handsome and respectable young man and your hair was perfect…" Daisuke let his sentence trail off as they walked away.

"Shut up." Yamato snapped.

Now, there's a saying out there and it goes as follows: _There is no rest for the weary. _It doesn't matter if you're bruised and bloodied or if your muscles were aching. You could be drowning in your own sweat or be walking on bloodied blisters. It didn't matter because it was life's way of saying: "Hey, guess what. Screw all your hard work of blood, sweat, and tears. You don't deserve breaks!"

When you were a Digidestined, life tended to screw you over a lot.

"TAKERU!" Came the familiar cry of Patamon as he came rushing through the air towards his partner. He slammed into the boy's chest, sending him to the ground.

"Patamon?" Takeru was bewildered to see his digimon here. After barely seeing him all day, it was weird for him to have suddenly shown up. "Patamon, what's going on? What's got you so scared?"

Yamato looked over his shoulder to see what all the commotion was about. His eyes practically widened to the size of saucers. "Damn!" he growled under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Daisuke asked, noticing his mentor's obvious distress.

Mere seconds later, he saw his cause for alarm.

A loud shriek ripped through the air and a dark shadow passed overhead. Moments later the beast touched down in front of the two boys. It was the digimon from before, the digimon that had been at the school.

"We have unfinished business…" the winged equine said coldly, his glowing eyes were locked on the boy. Every little move he made was followed.

Standing in his presence made Daisuke feel weak in the knees. Suddenly he began to feel ill again and the bruise he had on his head was not helping. His skin felt as if it were being coated in frost; it burned but it felt…well good. The dark vibe pulsating around the creature was arousing, it met amazing.

He felt awful but the longer he said within this peculiar digimon's presence, the less and less ill he felt. It was hypnotic, amazing, exhilarating, and scary. Daisuke's never felt an aura like this ever.

"Come on!" he heard Yamato yell, snapping him out of his trance. Daisuke had very little time to gather his senses as he was yanked away. "Sorry but whatever business he has with you will have to wait, buddy."

The digimon chuckled as he watched the two boys retreat. "How pathetic." He spread out his massive wings and lit from the ground. The equine digimon glided over the two and landed in front of them, blocking their path. "You think escape is an option. I'm sorry but that isn't possible…not yet." He lowered his head, pointing his long silver horn at Yamato's chest.

Yamato pulled Daisuke behind him and began backing away, herding the younger boy along with him. It was useless though, the digimon followed them. "Move aside and your life will be spared. The one I'm here for is the one who hides behind you like a coward. Give him to me now!" he snapped.

"Like hell." Yamato snapped.

The digimon snorted and lunged forward, slashing open the boy's chest. Yamato cried out, the force sent him flying out the way, unshielding Daisuke. The blonde crumpled to the ground, grasping his chest as scarlet liquid spread over his hand. A deep, ugly gash about six inches long ran along his chest. His skin had been cut through as easily as a hot knife through butter.

"Yamato!" Takeru and Taichi rushed over.

The digimon shook itself. "More pests." He sighed and reared up on his hind legs. "**Quake of the Titan!**" his hooves came smashing down into the earth. Immediately the ground shook violently and began to split. A deep chasm opened up under the feet of his opponents.

"Move!" Taichi ordered to Takeru as he shoved him and Yamato out of the way. His foot slipped on the edge of the forming chasm and he stumbled. The boy let out a choked cry as he fell; his fingers dug into the ground as he struggled to find purchase so he wouldn't fall to his death.

Takeru acting quickly, ran to his aid. "Don't, I'll be fine, just get your brother and the others and get out of here!" the older teen told him.

The young blonde shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you alone with this guy! Now take my hand so I can help you up."

The winged horse digimon watched them blankly. He then turned his attention on the two girls. "Anyone else want to play hero?" Hikari and Miyako took a couple nervous steps back. "Excellent, now ba—"

"**Air Shot!**"

A blast of air plowed into his flank, cutting off his words. The digimon stumbled but recovered a lot more quickly than Patamon would have liked. He turned his attention to the smaller winged digimon. His eyes gleamed with rage. "How brave, young one." He commented. "It was also very foolish."

"Uh oh." The little digimon knew that he made quite the mistake. He tried to make a feeble chance to escape by flying away. It was an even bigger mistake than the last. He could fly quickly but not as quickly as his opponent who was a stronger flier than he was.

He didn't even get a chance to get that far before he was struck down out of the sky. Takeru screamed in horror as he watched his friend crash into the ground.

"I could have destroyed him you know." The digimon said as it landed once more. "But I decided to spare him, because I'm giving you a choice."

Takeru looked at the digimon in horror as he stumbled away. All he could feel was fear because of this creature. He was completely heartless; he was so cold and ruthless. "Who exactly are you and what the hell is it you want? Just take it and leave!"

The digimon chuckled in amusement. "I am ShadowPegasusmon, one of the Digimon of Animosity. The boy is all I desire." He told him as he looked at Daisuke whom was busying himself with tending to Yamato. "You and your allies back down and give him to me. I promise I'm not here to harm him."

"After what you did to our friends?!" Miyako yelled from where she stood.

"They were in the way." ShadowPegasusmon simply said. "And you'd be smart not to get in my way either. " He returned his attention back to Daisuke and began to approach him. "Now, it begins."

Daisuke looked up fearfully; he didn't know what to do. Would he run away like a coward or stay here and protect Yamato? The boy felt a fist grasp the front of his shirt and he looked down at the older boy. His eyes were wide with pain and his face was deathly pale. "D-Daisuke, run away." He wheezed.

The boy shook his head. "No!" he gasped.

"Daisuke, go!" the other shouted, wincing in pain.

"No Daisuke-kun, be a good boy and stay. Don't listen to these fools; it will only take a second." ShadowPegasusmon said as he approached. His head was lowered; his horn was still stained red with blood. The sunlight cast a malevolent shine over it. Death's dagger, it was aimed at his heart.

Just. Stay. Still.

Dagger.

/

**Note: **_Finally it's done, I've done it! I finished the first chapter! Anyway just wanted to let you guys know I will be using the original Japanese names and if you're confused as to who's who just ask and I'll be glad to let you know. _

_Anyway after years of working on this revised story, I've finally gotten it done. I'm hoping to get chapter two done quickly and I'm aiming to get this updated again by either the middle or end of this week. I'm actually working on it right now. As I get further along I'll try doing double updates for you guys but that a long ways away. _

_I really hope it doesn't seem boring or too fast paced right now, things will start to smooth out starting in chapter two. Also I'd like to excuse any mistakes, I was really tired when I revised and probably misread and looked over a lot of stuff. If there's anything major please tell me and I'll try to ix it ASAP!_

_See you in the next chapter! _

_PS: Something I want to try to do that I've seen other authors do is put replies to reviews at the end of my story. I might start doing it, I don't know. Anyway, story for the long winded note. Bye!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Arc I: Shadow Over His Face**

**II**

**Fall**

**"That's it, Daisuke. Be absolutely still." ShadowPegasusmon spoke in **a cool hypnotic voice. His prey had suddenly become frozen in place; his eyes were fogged over by a mist. Perfect, he was in his clutches now.

_Just one little cut, that's all it takes for it to begin. That's all it takes to Awaken him._

**"V-mon Head!" **

ShadowPegasusmon didn't even have time to attempt to dodge the attack as he was thrown off his feet. A shrill whinny came from him as he hit the ground. It was a sound of both surprise and hot anger. Anger at being stopped again, anger at having his prey taken from him once again!

Daisuke shook himself from his daze. "What…what happened?" he murmured while cradling his head in his hands. It felt as if there had been an enormous pressure on him and it had suddenly been lifted.

"Stay away from my friend!"

"V-mon? You're here." Daisuke blinked in surprise at the sight of the rookie digimon. _That's impossible. How could he have digivolved? _

V-mon looked back at his partner and grinned. He flashed him a quick thumbs up. "Yep. We're friends and friends are always there for each other. Don't worry; I'll keep this creep off ya."

"Don't be an idiot, you can't take this guy on alone!" the boy scolded.

"I never said that I was going to take him on alone." The little blue dragon replied.

"If you value your very existence then you better not." ShadowPegasusmon said as he stood up. He nickered and gave himself a shake. "It doesn't take a skirmish between the two of us for you to realize that I am much stronger than you. Do you understand your situation, runt?" he growled.

V-mon smirked cockily. "Perfectly."

**"Neko Punch!"**

** "Feather Slash!"**

The two attacks struck ShadowPegasusmon at the same time. It took the stronger digimon by surprise and knocked him off balance. V-mon took advantage of the opening he saw. **"V-mon Head!" **He attacked.

"Enough!" ShadowPegasusmon bellowed, blocking his assault with his wings. He then through his wings opened, sending a powerful gale out all around him. "If you are going to fight me then you show your face! Do not resort to childish surprise attacks!"

"What's the matter, can't handle the heat?" Hawkmon inquired as he came gliding down, ready for another attack.

"So many distractions. It's really starting to get on my nerves. Why can't you fools just stay out of my way!" The Animosity digimon reared up, his hooves thrashing dangerously in the air, keeping Hawkmon at bay.

V-mon watched his opponent nervously; he was beginning to regret this somewhat. _What was Tailmon thinking? This guy is insanely powerful. How are we going to beat him with a plan like this? _He looked down at the earth beneath his feet. All they had to do was had him off a bit longer…just a little more. _Come on, Armadimon. _

"Daisuke-kun."

Daisuke looked behind him in surprise. "Tailmon."

"You guys all need to get out of here. Things are going to get rough around here and we don't want anyone getting hurt." The feline digimon instructed him. As long as the boy was still present, he'd be ShadowPegasusmon's main focus. He'd only keep fueling ShadowPegasusmon's rage and head get in the way. Tailmon didn't want him getting hurt. "Go on, take Yamato and get to safety with everyone else. Go!"

It took Tailmon nudging him in the back to get the stunned teen moving. Daisuke slung Yamato's arm over his shoulder and stood. "Alright, we're going…" he muttered to the cat. "Come on buddy." he then said to Yamato whom was limp and shivering. The younger Digidestined felt immensely guilty for putting his friend through this. If he'd acted more quickly, then Yamato probably wouldn't be in even worse condition.

Hikari stared at her digimon partner, feeling a wave of different emotions. She was confused and scared, worry and sadness. "Tailmon…but…" she began.

"Go, Hikari!" she shouted. She didn't like it but she just wanted to protect her friend. If ShadowPegasusmon was willing to harm anyone who stood in his way of attaining Daisuke, then eventually he'd be willing to hurt someone innocent. "Please, just go." Tailmon said, her ears lowered.

"Hikari, just come on!" Taichi said, snatching at his sister's arm. He began pulling her after him. "They'll be fine, right now we need to find a safe place to stay. Takeru, go help Daisuke with Yamato, we need to hurry. Don't worry, I got Patamon."

The young blonde didn't need to be told twice. Without even a look back at them, he rushed over to his brother's side. His expression was one of utter pain for his sibling's condition. As they retreated, Daisuke could feel eyes on his back. Looking behind him he saw that ShadowPegasusmon was watching them…no he was watching _him _intently.

A chill ran down his spine; he could taste something metallic on his tongue. He shivered as a strange yet entertaining feeling overcame him. ShadowPegasusmon had a dark and very overpowering presence; it left him with weak legs and a frozen mind. It was frightening, yet it was also felt…warm. There was something…something familiar about it.

There was also some strange pull he was feeling. It was the same pulling he had felt earlier at the school. He couldn't help but to feel curious about this digimon. Where had he come from and why was he after him of all people? He suddenly needed answers.

"Come on!"

The sound of Takeru shouting at him snapped Daisuke from his thoughts. In his deep thinking he had slowed down, making it difficult for his friend to bear Yamato. "Right, sorry." He muttered under his breath.

ShadowPegasusmon watched the children retreated away. He chuckled in amusement. _Fine, send him away, I'll just find him again. In fact I don't even have to go after him. Over the course of ten days it will happen by itself, especially since Haku is stalking around. _

"So, you three runts think that you're strong enough to challenge me?" he asked them in a cool, emotionless tone.

V-mon and Hawkmon came to stand beside Tailmon. The three of them were ready to take on this challenge, even if it killed them. However they prayed that it wouldn't come down to that. Hopefully they'd be able to hold ShadowPegasusmon off long enough for their plan to take effect. It all depended on how long they faired.

The trio took their stances against their greater opponent. ShadowPegasusmon snorted; they were being such fools. This battle would be over quickly, he would make sure of that. At first he thought their retaliation was cute; they thought that they could stop him. Now it was beginning to make his patience wear thin!

They were obstacles and his orders were to obtain the boy at all costs. That meant removing anyone and anything that stood in his way. "So it's that way then? Is this really what you want, do you really want to challenge me?" he asked them, giving the rookie digimon one last chance to give up.

Tailmon stepped forward bravely. "Yeah." She told him. "So bring it."

ShadowPegasusmon sighed. "So be it. That means no holding back." He said as a chilly dark aura began to surround him. It seemed to suck all the light around him away. "What I been doing was child's play, now I'll show you just how powerful an opponent I am."

Hawkmon tensed up. Instinct was kicking in, he wanted to runaway. Were they insane? They couldn't beat this guy, not even at their highest evolution! Then there was this ludicrous plan that they had thrown together. Hawkmon truly doubted that this would even work.

_It's all Tailmon's fault. _It was true; she was the brains in this operation. This morning she had gathered all of them up and began rambling about some digimon that was going to show up. He and the others as well thought it very suspicious that she knew about this threat and when asked about it she simply told them that she saw it stalking around the city for that last couple of days. Hawkmon wasn't sure if he was buying into that hogwash though.

The bird digimon glared at Tailmon. It wasn't too late to retreat; he could easily abandon V-mon and Tailmon. If they wanted to go through with this suicide mission then fine, let them get themselves turned into particles of scattered data! He wasn't going to risk his life or Miyako's safety!

He wanted Daisuke…Fine, they'll hand the boy over then. It would put a stop to this madness and prevent innocent people from getting hurt. Hawkmon took a step back, getting ready to take off after the boy. This unfair fight wouldn't be necessary; all they had to do was give ShadowPegasusmon what he wanted.

"Stop it."

Hawkmon looked at V-mon in surprise. The words had come from him. "You're only giving him more power." He said, glancing make at him with a serious expression. "As an Animosity Digimon he feeds off animosity."

"That's right." Tailmon added, still watching ShadowPegasusmon carefully. "All that bad energy he's putting off is going to mess with your head. Don't let him get to you." She instructed her friend.

Hawkmon blinked several times; he swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked forward, giving ShadowPegasusmon a determined expression. Those weren't his thought in his own head, he hadn't been thinking quite clearly. He couldn't let ShadowPegasusmon play these games with him; he had to protect the children.

ShadowPegasusmon merely looked on in amusement. The shadowy aura still pulsated around him; the three rookie digimon watched him warily. Neither would admit it, but they were all scared to make the first move. Neither of the trio wanted to get anywhere near ShadowPegasusmon; his frightening vibe was keeping them at bay. Eventually, they'd have to do something; they couldn't just stand there while they trembled in fear. It was now or never, either they started their assault or they get assaulted.

"Well, little ones?" ShadowPegasusmon asked, waiting for one of them to make their move. His muscles were tense; he was ready to spring into to action and end these pathetic creatures. "You're the ones who challenged me…so come on. Impress me."

V-mon grinned, an evil glint shone in his eyes. "Alright, but remember buddy, you asked for it!" the little dragon digimon charged right at him. He ran straight in without even so much as a second glance at his target. **"Bunbun Punch!" **

ShadowPegasusmon snorted and simply jumped out the way. It was a pathetic attempt; this little runt of a digimon didn't know what the hell he was doing. Charging in like that was foolish move and for one to do that meant that they deserved to die!

_Annoying bug! _ShadowPegasusmon hovered safely in the air for a few seconds as he watched V-mon stumble below, missing his target. All the horse digimon would have to do is land and he'd crush that little runt into the ground. He'd delete him with in mere seconds.

"**Feather Slash!" **

The dark digimon dodged to the side, nearly losing his balance in the air. His wings thundered as he beat them madly to stay aloft. He only had a short time to recover before another attack was launched at him. **"Feather Slash!" **the projectile shot by, nearly clipping one of his wings. Deeming it unsafe, the equine digimon climbed higher into the air. From up there he'd be able to avoid the attacks and hopefully see his assailant.

His red eyes immediately spotted the young hawk-like digimon. He chuckled evilly as he ascended higher, using the clouds as a shield. The sky was his domain, Hawkmon was about to find out that very soon.

"Hawkmon, get higher!" Tailmon instructed him as she ran along the ground, scanning the sky for any sign of ShadowPegasusmon. She hoped that Hawkmon would be able to fend off the Animosity Digimon in the sky long enough for the next part of their plan to kick in. "Don't lose sight of him; he'll get the upper hand then!"

Hawkmon nodded down at her and with a flap of his wings, he began to spiral higher into the sky. His chest was heaving, and his muscles were starting to ache, the higher he climbed. The digimon _was _a flyer, but not a very strong one. At least not on this level; if only he could digivolved right now! He was positive that as Aquilamon or Halsemon he'd be able to best this guy. However, these were not favorable odds.

He kept his eyes to the clouds, watching them warily. There was no telling where his opponent could be. When you had wings, you had a great advantage over those who were stuck on the ground. You were practically invisible and the higher you were, the more of an advantage you had. The fact that ShadowPegasusmon was out of his sights meant several things for Hawkmon and the others; most of them not to good either.

_Miyako… _The thought of his partner was enough to keep the avian digital monster going. He was going through with this suicidal plan to protect her. As he began to ascend above the clouds the digimon immediately became more aware. His eyes darted in all directions, he searched his blind spots for ShadowPegasusmon.

A cold chill crawled up his spine. This was bad, he had lost sight of his opponent and he was alone up here. Hawkmon was in a deadly situation…

ShadowPegasusmon watched the little bird digimon carefully from where he rested in the air. His dark aura wrapped about him, creating a form of camouflage for him. He could easily slip away and pursue Daisuke Motomiya; that was his mission after all. These young digimon were just distraction that he could simply ignore. He didn't have to fight him; it was only a waste of time.

The horse digimon looked in the direction where his quarry had run off. It would be so easy to escape and go after the boy. They'd never know he'd escape until it was too late. _I only have ten days…that time will pass by too quickly. If I'm going to act, it should be now. _ShadowPegasusmon pawed at the air, frustration was building up inside of him.

He turned his head to view the ground below. His glowing red eyes provided him with excellent vision from way up here. Several meters over his left wing, ShadowPegasusmon spotted his prey. They were headed to the road where a human vehicle awaited them. As they were approaching their means of escape another vehicle was pulling up to the side of the road.

ShadowPegasusmon gritted his teeth together. Just seeing his prey having a chance of escape filled him with rage. He pawed at the air again and looked back at Hawkmon whom was quickly ascended to the level he hovered at. It was their fault! The boy's stubborn friends and these annoying whelps!

They were the ones who challenged him. ShadowPegasusmon chuckled as he let his cloak fall from around him. He should at least try to play fair and give them the fight they want. Hiding was something only a coward would do after all. Time to show them just who they were dealing with.

"Come and get me, whelp." He shouted, challenging Hawkmon.

When Hawkmon spotted his enemy, he immediately put distance between the two of them. His eyes were narrowed as he watched ShadowPegasusmon. "Finally come out of hiding?"

ShadowPegasusmon chuckled. "I'm finally ready to end you." He growled just before he charged forward; his head was lowered and the deadly horn was ready to pierce flesh.

Hawkmon barely managed to dodge the attack; it was so fast. One moment ShadowPegasusmon was there and the next he was practically on top of the bird digimon. However, ShadowPegasusmon showed no one mercy, so he wasn't about to let this child have a chance to recover. The moment he shot passed Hawkmon; the equine digimon began to bank sharply.

On his second try, he managed to knock the smaller digimon out of the sky. "You dare to challenge me in my own domain, the sky? What a grave mistake, you've made!" the Animosity Digimon snarled as he dived down after his prey. "I'll gore you right through your heart!"

From the ground, V-mon and Tailmon watched the sky nervously. They had been waiting uncomfortably for their friend to reappear; they had been waiting for several minutes.

_Come on, Hawkmon. _Tailmon prayed silently. _You have to pull through, this plan has to work._

Suddenly a figure appeared; breaking from the cloud clusters. It was falling, and falling rather quickly.

"It's Hawkmon!" V-mon shouted in horror.

Not seconds later a much larger figure broke from the clouds. It was undoubtedly ShadowPegasusmon coming to finish the job. The two digimon stood there helplessly as they watched their friend. He was in the hands of fate, to either crash into the ground or to be deleted by the Animosity Digimon pursuing him. Neither was an outcome Tailmon nor V-mon wanted to see happen to Hawkmon.

Hawkmon was in a daze, barely aware of the danger he was in. The collision ShadowPegasusmon made with him had knocked him unawares, his mind was suddenly numb. The wind racing passed his body pulled at his senses. Slowly, reality began to return back to him and he realized that he was about to crash into the earth!

Gathering his bearing as quickly as he could, Hawkmon righted himself in the air, trying to gain some control over his fall. Right before he could slam into the ground he managed to pull up; his foot grazed a blade of grass as he ascended.

"That was a close one." He muttered under his breath. "Now where's…" he was looking around for his opponent just as shadow fell over him. _Taking the bait I see. _The rookie digimon thought as he searched for Tailmon and V-mon. It was almost time to spring their perfect little trap.

"Keep up!" he taunted over his shoulder.

ShadowPegasusmon snorted and kicked out, nearly sending his opponent crashing towards the ground once more. However, much to the Animosity Digimon's annoyance, Hawkmon managed to recover quickly. His annoyance only grew when the little digimon began to fly low to the ground, something that would give him a severe drawback.

ShadowPegasusmon may have been a king in the sky, but when it came to low flying he was weak. His bigger form made it much hard to be aerodynamic and stealthy. It took more focus so he wouldn't accidently clip the ground and fall. The little bastard tricked him…

"You ready?" V-mon asked Tailmon as Hawkmon approached them with ShadowPegasusmon pursuing behind him, flying clumsily.

Tailmon nodded. She looked at the ground beneath her feet. _Just a little closer… _"Let's do this!" she said.

As Hawkmon was reaching them, the two digimon broke apart, running in opposite directions. At the last minute, Hawkmon pulled up and the trap sprang.

Before ShadowPegasusmon could react, the ground broke open; stray stones flying everywhere and clipping the equine's wings! **"Rolling Stone!" **a rolling sphere shot up from the earth and crashed into ShadowPegasusmon's chest with a disturbing crack. The winged horse digimon went reeling back, crashing roughly into the ground.

"**Nebaneba Net!" **

Thick, silky strands of thread suddenly began encasing ShadowPegasusmon. It pinned him to the ground, leaving him incapable of flying away to escape. His wings were tangled in the netting, useless and he, powerless.

He struggled vainly but to no avail. If anything, he was only tangled up in the mess even more. ShadowPegasusmon shrieked in frustration; he had been defeated so easily! How could this be possible; defeated by mere whelps?

"Having trouble?"

ShadowPegasusmon looked up as V-mon approached with a cocky smirk; the other digimon joining him. The Animosity Digimon merely leered at them all. "What a clever little tactic you've come up with here. I have to say that I am very impressed, perhaps you are a worthy digimon partner for the boy." His response was cool and calm. However, on the inside, he was on fire with rage.

V-mon snorted, trying to keep his temper in check. Who was he to say that he wasn't worthy of being Daisuke's digimon partner? Plus he remembered to keep his emotions under control when around him. His negative feelings would only feed power to the Animosity Digimon.

"Time to give up." Wormmon said as he crawled up beside V-mon. "We've beat you."

Tailmon nodded as she stepped forward as well. "Didn't think that a bunch of little digimon like us would be able to beat you, huh?" she taunted. "See, big bad digimon like you are so arrogant. You guys get so over confident about yourselves."

"So overconfident that you don't pay attention to the little things" Armadimon added.

ShadowPegasusmon snorted as he watched the five of them carefully. He was silent for a long time. "I see." He finally said. "You're right; I've made a mistake in underestimating you." The winged-horse digimon struggled a little. "However, you've also made a mistake."

The group of digimon blinked in surprise at each other.

The Animosity digimon chuckled. "When I said I was stronger than you…I meant it." Dark aura blasted all around him, tearing his prison of thread to pieces. "I'm at a much, much higher level than you, little ones!" he snarled. His dark aura exploded all around him, engulfing everything in sight.

….

Daisuke and Takeru stumbled along behind the others while trying to support Yamato. Both of them wore faces that were pale with worry. Every second that ticked by it seemed like the older boy's condition was deteriorating even more.

His appearance was bone chilling. The young man's face was a ghostly pale color and his lips were turning gray. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness, his eyes were fluttering rapidly. The two boys could feel him occasionally shudder violently. Words kept tumbling from his mouth; all of them some incomprehensible mess. His worsening condition only made the boys worry even more about their friend.

"…Daisuke…"

It took Daisuke a few seconds to realize that Yamato had been calling out his name. He looked at his mentor with a grimace. "Yamato? You okay?" all he got for a reply was some mumbled speech that he could barely hear.

"Akira…Akira…A-akira…"

_Akira? _The brunette goggled boy was suddenly puzzled. Was that what he heard? It was the only word that he could get from Yamato's nonsense talk. Who was Akira though? Regardless of whom he was, the very mention of their name sent a chill down his spine.

He felt a very sick feeling in his stomach.

As they approached the street, a car began pulling up alongside the curb. The doors swung opened and four teens tumbled out. Ken, Koushiro, Sora, and Jo came rushing over to their friends; completely the group.

"What happened?" Sora asked with saucer sized eyes when she saw Yamato's condition. Her face immediately turned pale when she noticed the crimson stains in his clothing.

"Digimon attack." Miyako replied, wincing at the look of despair on the girl's face.

"There was a digimon attack here too?" Ken asked, his eyes were wide. He rushed up to Daisuke's side as Sora and Jo relieved the older boy from him and Takeru. The younger blonde followed closely behind the other two older Digidestined, refusing to let his brother out of his sight.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked his best friend. He studied Daisuke's face intently, not overlooking the ugly bruise on the side of his head. "You look awful…"

Daisuke nodded rigidly, suddenly feeling that sick feeling he had felt earlier overcome him again. He looked down at his hands that were covered in Yamato's blood. His vision blurred over with tears and his body began to tremble violently. Actually, he was quite the opposite of okay, he felt like he was going to puke. Today was as if he were spending a good day in Hell and the Devil was his personal tour guide.

Despite how awful he felt, he put on a fake, cocky smile. The boy didn't want to be the center of his friend's concern. "Fine…I'm fine. It's just I'm a little shaken up; everything's happened so damn fast." _And I left V-mon to fight that…that monster. _Guilt gnawed at his insides.

Ken narrowed his eyes, seeing right through the mask he was wearing. Despite his suspicion, he didn't try to press the boy for the truth. "You guys all look a little roughed up. What happened?"

Hikari gave him a weak smile. "You don't look too well yourself." The girl said, pointing out his haggard condition. Like their selves, Ken had a few cuts and scratches of his own. His lip was split opened and his hair looked singed. Aside from his physical wounds it was obvious that he wasn't in a pleasant mood. Whatever the situation was at his school, the others imagined it to be much worse than their own.

Ken nodded and ran a hand through his singed hair. "Some strange digimon attacked the school. It was awful, there was nothing but chaos. I was worried about you guys and I decided to try to get down here to make sure everything was alright." He explained. "Took me away to get away, but I managed."

Hikari looked around, a curious expression worn on her face. "Where's Minomon?"

Ken whom had been worried about Daisuke a couple of seconds ago suddenly found himself thinking of his digimon partner. He merely shook his head. "He disappeared this morning. I'm really worried about him."

Miyako and Daisuke glanced at Hikari. The girl bit her lip, knowing exactly what they were thinking. "Maybe Tailmon talked to him or something…" She had no idea what was going on with her partner lately. Tailmon has been really sneaky and secretive.

Ken frowned. "Tailmon? What's she been up to?" he asked her.

Hikari just shook her head. "I don't know…" _I don't know._

"So, you're all okay, right?" Koushiro asked the younger Digidestined. He glanced back at Yamato with worry as Sora fretted over him in the car. They couldn't be standing here idly talking; they needed to get him to a hospital and fast.

"We're fine." Daisuke spoke for all of them. "It's just the digimon we have to worry about."

"The digimon? What's happened to them?" Koushiro asked with a frown.

Hearing their conversation, Takeru came over. His expression was dark, the emotion of rage boiled deep inside of him. "They're fighting that thing!" he growled. "He's going to destroy them, we have to go back and help them." He looked over at Patamon in Taichi's arms.

Taichi sighed when he caught sight of the blonde's face. "I know, but what can we do? We'll only get in the way, ShadowPegasusmon will use us as distraction for the digimon." He rested a hand on the teen's shoulder. "They'll be too busy trying to protect us to focus on what's really important."

Takeru looked away. "I know…but still..." He let his sentence trail off.

"Still, we should be there to support them. We can't just abandon them like that, it just doesn't seem right…" Daisuke spoke the very thought Takeru had been thinking.

"Daisuke's right, we can't just runaway like this!" Hikari protested, her heart was filled with fear for Tailmon. Would she and the other really be strong enough to take down ShadowPegasusmon? It seemed like an impossible fancy; just being in ShadowPegasusmon's presence had made her feel as if she were being crushed. She had felt terrified.

Without even seeing what ShadowPegasusmon was truly capable of, the girl knew that he was powerful. She was worried about the kind of danger that their digimon had put themselves in.

"We're not running away." Jo told them, calmly. "We're just finding a place to gather our bearings. Don't worry; we'd never think of abandoning the digimon."

Daisuke frowned and looked back in the direction they had come. His chest ached as he thought of V-mon. he had to go back for his friend, he just had to! He wanted to go back, not only because of V-mon, but also because he felt something pulling at him. There was this tiny, little voice in his head, pushing him, telling him to go back.

The first time he had felt it, he ignored it. Of course, the first time the pull wasn't this strong…or painful. This time it felt as if someone had tied thread around his heart and was pulling it taunt. When he tried to resist, the pain only became worse, the thread tightening.

The invisible thread tightened around his heart with every step he took away from the group of digimon. When they had begun their drawback, the boy had began to feel the pull again. Ever since then, he had felt it becoming stronger.

The taste of blood spread over his tongue. He swayed, somewhat uneasy as he suddenly became light head. Dark purple stars danced in front of his vision. Daisuke pressed the heel of his hand to his temple.

There was a dull buzzing that was beginning to start up in his ears. Daisuke felt as if the world were spinning around him. His stomach was tying itself in knots, leaving him with the uncomfortable sensation of wanting to puke. Gravity seemed to have increased its pull on him; his limbs felt unbearably heavy. The boy thought he was going to fall over.

A hand on his shoulder caused the boy to look up into the concerned eyes of Ken. His image of his friend was a blurred one. "You okay?" his voice sounded muffled. "You look really pale."

Daisuke nodded slowly, waving Ken away. "It's probably just anxiety…" he mumbled in a barely audible reply.

"Daisuke." Ken's voice turned a bit sterner; his hand gripped Daisuke tightly around the arm. He knew the other teen well enough to be able to tell when he was lying. Besides, it's not like his condition wasn't noticeable; just from a glance you could tell that something was off.

The brown haired teen leaned against Ken for support. His body was shuddering violently. "Maybe…I'm not so fine…" he said, faking a smile.

Ken grabbed his friend by both shoulders and slowly lowered him down to the ground. "No kidding…" he sighed.

Taichi kneeled down beside the two boys. He reached out and placed a hand against his protégé's forehead. "No fever or anything. Maybe you just need to stay still for a little while." he advised the boy. "Too much stress can affect you negatively, so just chill for a sec."

"No, no." Daisuke tried to protest. "I'll…I'm going to be okay." It didn't matter how much he tried to protest, his friends would have none of it. _I can't…I can't give in like this. V-mon still needs my help; I can't abandon him. I have to go back and make sure he's alright. _Daisuke tried to use this thought as an anchor as his vision began to narrow. No, he couldn't leave the digimon, regardless of his current condition; he didn't give a crap about how he was feeling. Right now his mind was only on one thing and that was the safety of the digimon.

"Get your hands off of me!" he snarled, pushing Taichi away from him. The teen struggled to get back to his feet, using an unhelpful Ken as support. "I said that I'm going to be okay. He said despite the spinning sensation he was feeling. Standing made him feel as if he were about to tip over; gravity had become his enemy.

"Daisuke." Hikari warned him with a worried look, she hated it when he acted rashly.

Daisuke stumbled a little, threatening to hit the ground. His body began to shake even more violently. The boy's friends watched with concern as his face paled to a sickly gray color. It was if some strange plague had come over him. Ken kept a tight hold on his friend and Taichi stood nearby, watching him carefully.

_V-mon… _

The teen suddenly found himself engulfed by darkness; his mind was no longer strong enough to keep him conscious. His body went icy cold and he felt as if he were falling through the air.

_"Akira!"_

….

_Falling…_

_ He felt himself falling…_

_ Not falling like he jumped off a cliff, but more like drifting down like a feather. He was floating. All around him was pitch black, no source of light pierced through the inky darkness. Daisuke was there alone, trapped in the frightening darkness. It was cold, it was scary, it was isolating._

_ As his senses came back to him, panic began to rise in is chest. His fear climaxed more and more as he began to become more aware of his predicament. Eventually, his breathing became erratic; he began to thrash around, desperate to find escape or something to anchor himself to. Finding nothing to pacify him, the boy's panic amplified._

_ "Help!" he cried out, practically choking on a sob. "Someone help, please! Help me!" _

_ The boy clawed blindly at the air before him. Tears began falling down his face. "Please!" he begged the darkness. "Get me out of here, someone please!" the young Digidestined screamed; his throat feeling raw from all his hollering._

_ "Enough!"_

_ The sound of a vicious voice shouting snapped Daisuke out of it. Slowly, the void began to brighten; light was beginning to surround him. Looking around bewildered, he tried to find the source of the light. _

_ Feathers began to drift passed him; they were glowing with their own mysterious light. As more feathers began to fall passed him, they lit up his surroundings. However, the boy was quite disappointed with what they revealed. There was nothing…it was still that dark, isolated void that surrounded him. As quickly as it left him, panic returned to him once more. _

_ "Wh-where?"_

_ "Where are you?" the voice came again._

_ Daisuke looked around, trying to find the source. However, he didn't seem to have any luck. All he saw was darkness, seemingly stretching forever; it certainly didn't look like someone else could be there with him. He felt utterly alone._

_ "Don't even bother, Daisuke." The voice spoke. "You'll never find what you're looking for. So just listen closely to my voice and everything will be just fine."_

_ "What?" The goggle-wearing boy was bewildered. Despite the disembodied voices instructions, he still continued to look for someone, but it was to no avail. All he saw was the same thing; cold, lonely, darkness that there was no escape from._

_ He heard someone chuckle. "So young, so clueless." They laughed again. "And so weak…"_

_ "I'm…I'm not weak!" Daisuke shouted, trying his best to sound tough. However the fear inside him made his voice tremble. _

_ "…But also strong." The disembodied voice went on to say. They chuckled at him even more; Daisuke glared, not appreciating being the source of someone's amusement. Especially since he couldn't see that someone. "In time though, you'll be ready. Just not yet, not quite yet. Such a shame, I was never good at being patient."_

_ "What the hell are you talking about?" Daisuke demanded. "Where and am? What's going on; is this a dream or something?" _

_ "Which question is more important to you? I can only answer one."_

_ The brunette haired boy frowned. Jeez, whoever was talking to him was a real pain in the neck. He was already starting to dislike them a lot. "Where am I?" he asked warily._

_ "Hm, that a hard one. Let's see." The voice replied. There was a long pause as it pondered its answer. At least, that's what Daisuke thought was going on. "Your mind, I guess. Kind of empty, huh?"_

_ Daisuke's expression turned sour._

_ The invisible person laughed at him. "Aw, not there's no need to be in a grey mood." They said. "Actually, this might be a fragment of your soul. I could go into more detail, but I don't think you'd understand it. You're too stupid at the moment."_

_ "Bite me." Daisuke growled._

_ "How rude."_

_ "You're one to talk!"_

_ The voice snarled in frustration all of a sudden. "I'm losing my patience with you."_

_ "Good." Daisuke smirked. "You can go ahead and giving me the silent treatment." The boy felt smug after making that comment. _

_ He was surprised when his wish was granted. Silent fell over him in the void, the only noise was his heavy breathing. Once more, the boy was alone; a painful feeling began to rise in his chest. Alone. He didn't know where he was, he didn't understand what was going on; the voice he heard had been too vague and snarky. Now without its presence, Daisuke was left to be overwhelmed by fear. _

_ The boy slowly began to burst into tears. "What's going on?" he whispered as he looked around, hoping to find some sort of escape. "Someone help me…" _

_ "Please, someone, help me!" he screamed at the top of his lungs over and over again. No matter how much he pleaded, no one came to the frightened teen's aid. _

_ "Not this again. How pathetic…"_

_ The minute he heard the voice again, Daisuke perked up. Though he couldn't see the voice's own, it offered a little comfort. It gave him something to human contact, even if this 'invisible person' wasn't human at all. "You again." The boy muttered, trying to compose himself. _

_ The voice scoffed. "Listen to me." They went on to say after a short silence. "Do really want help that bad? Do you really, really want it?"_

_ Daisuke wiped his tears away with his arm. His attention was suddenly captured. Was this unsen stranger suggesting that they'd help him out of this place? "Y-yes…"_

_ "I can help you, Daisuke." The voice said._

_ The boy's heart fluttered. "Really?" he was hopeful now._

_ The voice replied again. "Yes."_

_ "How? Tell me!" Daisuke said, sounding very desperate. He didn't care what he had to do, if it got him out of here, he'd do it ten times if he had to!_

_ The voice chuckled; it was a very cold and intimidating sound. It actually seemed to make the void feel colder. Daisuke wrapped his arms around himself nervously. "It's very simple, it won't take much work, so you don't have to worry."_

_ "Tell me!" Daisuke demanded._

_ "Hm, okay. No need to be so impatient." The voice replied, still sounding amused. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Daisuke wasn't sure about this. "Just Awaken."_

_ The boy frowned, the instruction sounded cryptic. "Awaken? As in wake up?" he asked. "I don't know what you mean? Are you saying this is just a dream?" _

_ A gasp of pain suddenly escaped the teen's lips. It felt as if something had stabbed into his back and was carving through his flesh. Daisuke's mouth opened as a silent scream of agony came forth. Blinding pain shot through his body, causing red and purple stars to dance in the boy's vision._

_ The agony amplified and Daisuke's vision began to blur. His mind was unable to handle the great amount of pain he was experiencing. There were too many messages of pain being sent to it, the situation was too much for his mind to handle. All around him, the void became darker as his conscious began to slip. Tears filled his eyes._

_ "Help me…h-help me. M-make it…s-st-stop…" he whispered as he convulsed from the pure, overwhelming agony._

_ Laughter. He heard laughter echoing around him and the shadows swallowed him up. "I am helping you, Daisuke Motomiya. Oh I am."_

/

**Note: **_**And done. Sorry that's it's so late, school life has kept me busy. Being a senior this year means I need to focus more on school work, but I've finally finished chapter two. I can't promise I'll have three up soon, but I'll have it updated as soon as I can. **_

_**Leave a review, tell me what you think!**_


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